Thoughts on Life, Love, Politics, Hypocrisy and Coming Out in Mid-Life

Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Gay Rights and The Increasingly Embatteld Catholic Church

Pope Francis has made statements that wishful thinking Catholics want to believe have signaled a change in the Church's approach towards gays and gay rights. As reviewed in prior posts, the reality is that to date under Pope Francis NOTHING has changed in terms of dogma. However, that is not to say that growing forces of opposition are not coming to bear on the Church's mistreatment of and discrimination against LGBT individuals. These forces ranges from Catholic high school students in Washington State who are in open revolt following the firing of a gay vice-principal after he married his husband to the former president of the Republic of Ireland who recently slammed the Church's anti-gay policies. Sooner or later, Pope Francis must embrace real substantive change or stand by and witness the death spiral of the Church. In the context of young Catholics, Andrew Sullivan summed up the situation unfolding in Washington State:

Something quite contagious is happening at Eastside Catholic School in
Sammamish, Washington. A well-liked vice-principal was fired recently
(Dish coverage here)
not because he was gay but because he married his partner. In a
spectacular and revealing twist, the vice-principal, Mark Zmuda, claims
that in his discussions with the school’s president, he was told he
could be re-hired if he divorced his husband.

What does it say about the twisted, absurd view of homosexual persons
that the Catholic Church should demand that they divorce their spouses
as a condition of working for a Catholic organization? It tells you so
much. What the church is saying by this is that homosexuals should be
punished for constructing stable, committed relationships of mutual care
and support. If they stay single or have some kind of down-low
commitment ceremony, all will be ignored.

But even if the Church and school change nothing, the students give
you a glimpse into the Church’s future. It’s making itself obsolete by
pushing away young people who are concerned with social justice and
civil rights and who know the Catholic Church can’t be counted on to
stand for what’s right.

Are these kids going to remain in the Church once they’re out of
their parents’ houses? Are they going to raise their kids in the Church?
Are they going to attend Church when they’re older? Are they going to
have any respect for Church authority?

The obvious answer is than many will leave Catholicism and perhaps even Christianity. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, former Irish President Mary McAleese laid into the Church for its treatment of gays. That's right the former president of Ireland, a nation that once was a bastion of Catholicism. The Scotland Herald looks at her statements. Here are excerpts:

The call came from former Irish President Mary McAleese, who said the
Catholic Church had been in denial over homosexuality for decades and
that it was "not so much the elephant in the room but a herd of
elephants".

Speaking during a lecture at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Mrs
McAleese said: "I would have thought Cardinal Keith O'Brien, in telling
the story of his life - if he was willing to do that - could have been
of great assistance to gay people, not just in the Church but elsewhere,
who felt over many, many years constrained to pretend to be
heterosexual while at the same time acting a different life."

Mrs McAleese said that, like so many closet homosexuals, Keith
O'Brien hoped to divert attention from himself by raising his voice "in
the most homophobic way".

However this, she said, was a reflection of the Vatican's attitude to gay people in general.She said: "Things written by Benedict, for example, were completely
contradictory to modern science and to modern understanding, and to the
understanding of most Catholics nowadays in relation to homosexuality.

Mrs McAleese drew a ­comparison with the Church's attitude to Jews. It
took almost two millennia formally to revise the "Christ-killer" slander
which had been repeated down the decades.

Mrs McAleese studied suicide among young Irish males, many of them
gay Catholics who grew up being told their sexuality was "intrinsically
disordered" and "evil".

When she took this research to the new papal nuncio in Dublin she was surprised by his response.

She said she was asked: "What do you want me to do? Do you want us to
turn our back on tradition?" Her answer was: "Yes, if it's wrong."

Only time will tell whether or not Pope Francis will have the courage - and common decency - to begin a sea change in the Church. One thing is clear: if he doesn't the Church will continue to wither and die in the Western World.

The GayOBX

Disclaimer on Opinions and Content

This Blog contains content that may be innapropriate for readers under the legal age of 18. IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE, PLEASE LEAVE NOW. Thank you

This is an opinion and commentary blog and the opinions and contents of this Blog - including opinions expressed concerning opponents of LGBT equality - are the opinions only of the individual blogger and should not be attributed to any other individuals or to any organization of which the blogger is a past or current member.

Click Image to Go To Site

About Me

Out gay attorney in a committed relationship; formerly married and father of three wonderful children; sometime activist and political/news junkie; survived coming out in mid-life and hope to share my experiences and reflections with others.
In the career/professional realm, I have my own law firm - Michael B. Hamar, P.C. - and practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning (Wills, Trusts, Advanced Medical Directives, Financial Powers of Attorney, Durable Medical Powers of Attorney); business law and commercial transactions; formation of corporations and LLC's; and legal services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, including birth certificate amendment.

Followers

Michael-in-Norfolk disclaims any and all responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, completeness, legality, reliability, operability, or availability of information or material displayed on this site and does not claim credit for any images or articles featured on this site, unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyrighted to it's respectful owners. Information on this site may contain errors or inaccuracies, and Michael-in-Norfolk does not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the site's content. If you own rights to any of the images or articles, and do not wish them to appear on this site, please contact Michael-in-Norfolk via e-mail and they will be promptly removed. Michael-in-Norfolk contains links to other Internet sites. These links are provided solely as a convenience and are not endorsements of any products or services in such sites, and no information or content in such site has been endorsed or approved by this blog.